In keeping with its combative nature, Peugeot has decided to contest the 2013 Pikes Peak Hill Climb (Colorado, USA, June 30) which continues to stand out as one of motorsport’s most exacting, internationally-reputed competitions. Peugeot’s bid to win the unique, Colorado Springs-based event with the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak has led to it joining forces with such key partners as Total, Red Bull, Michelin and Sébastien Loeb. Peugeot’s participation in this epic race, which has previously seen the Brand triumph with the legendary 205 T16 and 405 T16 Pikes Peak, is a natural extension of its international offensive which is itself illustrated by the globalisation of its sales and the success enjoyed by the new 208.

It was exactly 100 years ago that Peugeot notched up its first racing victory, at Indianapolis, the first of a very long list of successes in some of motorsport’s most mythical events. Its previous Pikes Peak Hill Climb triumphs not only marked the world of international motorsport but have become an integral part of Peugeot’s DNA. Ari Vatanen’s unforgettable record-breaking victory on the 1988 event in the 405 T16 is documented by the celebrated film, ‘Climb Dance’. Peugeot won the famous hill climb a second time in 1989, this time with the USA’s Robby Unser behind the wheel.

The Pikes Peak Hill Climb’s unique course was finally entirely asphalted last year and comprises 156 turns over a distance of 20 kilometres that take competitors from an altitude of 2,800 metres to 4,300 metres at its highest point. The event is famous, too, as the USA’s second-oldest motorsport competition after Indianapolis and, over the decades, it has earned a reputation as a notoriously difficult and complex challenge!

The Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak has been entered in the premier ‘Unlimited’ class and has been given the start number ‘208’. Its sole objective is victory!

To maximise its chances of winning the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with the 208 T16 Pikes Peak, Peugeot has enlisted the support of the very best partners for this exceptional project, namely Total, Red Bull, Michelin and Sébastien Loeb. The nine-time world rally champion was able to accept Peugeot’s proposal thanks to Citroën which has authorised its star driver to contest the American event for the first time in his career.

As all the different players prepare for the challenge, all that remains is for the car that will be used for the ascension – the 208 T16 Pikes Peak – to be unveiled, and its strengths and secrets are scheduled to be revealed in the middle of April.

The strong sales enjoyed by the new 208 (300,000 units manufactured up to end-February 2013) and the presentation to the media of the 208 GTI version at this very moment are eloquent signs of Peugeot’s dynamism. But Peugeot’s commercial successes have traditionally been accompanied by success in motorsport, so the decision to take on the challenge of this extraordinary, mythical, exacting competition – which also helped to forge the Brand’s reputation in the late 1980s – was a perfectly natural one.

Maxime Picat, Director General Automobiles Peugeot said: “Our objective is to win, so we needed to stack up as many cards as possible in our favour by joining forces with the very best partners for this unique project, namely Total, Red Bull, Michelin and Sebastien Loeb. “Indeed, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Citroën for this one-off ‘loan’ of its exceptional champion. Citroën’s support is emblematic of the cohesion that reigns within the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group, “ he added.